Abstract [en]

Constructions of masculinity and femininity can be reinforced through written and spoken language, creating stereotypes and inequality between genders. Gender representations in music lyrics have been studied for various genres, but the country music genre has been somewhat underrepresented. Considering the fact that country is seen as the authentic music genre and culture of the US, it is relevant to study how gender is represented in relation to society. The aim of this study is to investigate how masculinity and femininity is represented in 15 modern country songs from the last decade retrieved from Billboard.com. The hypothesis for this study is that modern country music should have a less stereotypical view on men and women than older country music. Critical Discourse Analysis has been used to analyse the lyrics, and metaphors, similes and verbs have been analysed in order to reach the aim. The country music culture has been the framework to interpret the results, as well as the view of femininity and masculinity as social constructions. The findings point to more exaggerated versions of masculinity and more stereotypical depictions of femininity being represented in the lyrics than older research made about country music and gender. Masculinity and femininity are depicted as opposites with clear boundaries set between them. The modern lyrics express a desire to claim authenticity through conservative and stereotypical representations of men and women, using metaphors and verbs that enforces certain norms and assumptions about femininity and masculinity.